Wi-fi Broadband Alliance Releases New Report on Deployment of Public Wi-Fi for Venues and Community House owners

The Wi-fi Broadband Alliance (WBA), the worldwide business physique devoted to bettering Wi-Fi requirements and companies, has immediately launched its report titled “Venue Necessities for Person Engagement” which takes a recent have a look at how customers have interaction with and entry companies, how venues can optimize revenues, and create new enterprise alternatives.  The report gives greatest apply recommendation on creating a venue’s enterprise case for public Wi-Fi, together with learn how to enhance person engagement with using OpenRoaming^TM and Passpoint know-how over legacy captive portal Wi-Fi.

Person engagement is a vital aspect of public Wi-Fi provision. Venues want to know the customers who’re connecting to their public Wi-Fi community, as they’ve a wide range of wants starting from regulatory compliance to industrial fashions that necessitate engagement. Likewise, customers want to have the ability to use and work together with the Wi-Fi and with the model that’s offering the Wi-Fi.  Not like captive portals, as soon as a tool has been efficiently onboarded to an OpenRoaming/Passpoint compliant community, the connection is safer and future connections will probably be computerized, whereas nonetheless retaining the flexibility for venues and community homeowners to have interaction with customers.

For venues and public Wi-Fi community homeowners seeking to enhance engagement with customers, the report highlights greatest apply recommendation on establishing person wants, community necessities, processes flows, onboarding and gadget provisioning. 

Drivers for aiming for higher person engagement

The report underscores the vital want for business stakeholders to prioritize person engagement in Wi-Fi community design and operation. By understanding and addressing the necessities of each venues and customers, companies can improve the general person expertise, scale back prices, and unlock new income alternatives.

The advantages for operators and venues that enhance person engagement embody:

• Price Discount & Price Management: Implementing environment friendly onboarding processes and standardized interfaces may also help scale back the prices related to managing and sustaining Wi-Fi networks, particularly for venues with excessive person site visitors.
• Elevated Income Alternatives: By providing seamless and fascinating person experiences, venues can entice extra customers, resulting in potential income streams by promoting, pay-as-you-go fashions, or partnerships with third events and roaming companies. For example, the adoption of OpenRoaming facilitates steady Wi-Fi connectivity in shops and retail environments, considerably enhancing the purchasing expertise. It permits clients to seamlessly join with out handbook logins, paving the way in which for real-time promotions and communications that have interaction clients immediately, with out the necessity for portal logins.
• Regulatory Compliance: Understanding and implementing greatest practices for person engagement may also help business gamers adjust to regulatory necessities associated to person privateness, knowledge safety, and community safety. For instance, sure regulatory our bodies and governments mandate that service suppliers require customers to register for Wi-Fi entry. This registration helps felony investigations hint actions the place wanted. OpenRoaming streamlines this course of by enabling automated login as soon as a profile is downloaded.
• Aggressive Benefit: Trade gamers that excel in person engagement and supply a seamless Wi-Fi expertise can acquire a aggressive edge out there, attracting extra clients and companions.
• Wi-Fi roaming: Facilitated by the WBA’s OpenRoaming Federation, Wi-Fi roaming gives venues a precious income stream and enhanced person expertise. It simplifies Wi-Fi connectivity for customers, making certain safe community entry and growing buyer satisfaction. Roaming may also be a type of person alternate, permitting seamless connectivity throughout partnerships, enriching and simplifying the person expertise. GDPR tips are applied in OpenRoaming, making certain buyer knowledge privateness and safety, which is essential for sustaining belief and compliance.

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wi-fi Broadband Alliance, stated: “This report underscores the vital want for business stakeholders to prioritize person engagement in Wi-Fi community design and operation. By understanding and addressing the necessities of each venues and customers, companies can improve the general person expertise, scale back prices, and unlock new income alternatives.  WBA encourages business gamers to contemplate the perfect practices recognized within the report with totally different enterprise fashions relevant to their public Wi-Fi deployment. Enhancing the person journey and person engagement in Wi-Fi networks can in the end enhance the general person expertise and drive enterprise success.”

The report contains insights from business specialists from GlobalReach Expertise, Liquid Clever Applied sciences, Cityroam, Google, Marriott Worldwide, Single Digits, and different WBA members.

Thomas Locke, Chief Expertise Officer, GlobalReach Expertise

“As a result of continued success of OpenRoaming and the broader market adoption of applied sciences like Passpoint, customers are actually more and more connecting seamlessly and securely to public Wi-Fi networks. That being stated, the need for manufacturers and customers to work together in real-time on a proximity-based stage has by no means been stronger. This report outlines the perfect practices for manufacturers to supply an enhanced person expertise by direct engagement through a safe Passpoint primarily based public Wi-Fi community.”

Ben Roberts, Group Chief Expertise and Innovation Officer, Liquid Clever Applied sciences, “Public Wi-Fi enterprise circumstances are uniquely difficult in rising markets, and success requires balancing the wants of the Wi-Fi customers with these of the community proprietor. Expertise modifications on a regular basis; one such instance being the emergence of extra gadgets that help Passpoint. These modifications open up prospects for community homeowners to contemplate new types of person engagement. This report gives a reference for community homeowners and venues to know the instruments out there to them to greatest obtain their enterprise targets whereas optimizing the person expertise.”